Victoria Janssen's Blog, page 91

Mansfield Park Revisited, Part the First

I recently located the journal entries I made when I last reread Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, way back in 2004. I reproduce them here for your enjoyment.#November 12, 2004I've just begun my first reread of Jane's Austen's Mansfield Park. It was the last of the Austen novels I read, excluding juvenalia, back in the spring of 1990. The paperback copy I'm reading from is the same one that traveled

Punctuation & Style

I participated in a panel at Readercon last weekend that was all about punctuation. We were asked to bring examples of prose that used punctuation in interesting ways. I chose examples that I thought used a wide variety of punctuation, all of it intended to have specific effects. We didn't end up using any of those examples for the panel (and it turned out I was the only one who'd brought any,

Fanfiction and Feedback

I've been meaning to post about fanfiction for a while, not really in connection with recent online discussions of literary fanfiction. Instead I want to talk about one particular reason why people write fanfiction. They write fanfiction for feedback, and for community.I've been involved with fandom since I was a pre-teen. I read my first Star Trek fanzines in middle school and was unimpressed

Charles Sorley, "A Letter From the Trenches to a School Friend"

A Letter From the Trenches to a School FriendI have not brought my OdysseyWith me here across the sea;But you'll remember, when I sayHow, when they went down Sparta way,To sandy Sparta, long ere dawnHorses were harnessed, rations drawn,Equipment polished sparkling bright,And breakfasts swallowed (as the whiteOf eastern heavens turned to gold) -The dogs barked, swift farewells were told.The sun

Readercon 2010

I have a new free read posted on my website, in PDF format: Camille, Henri, Maxime, an erotic outtake from The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom & Their Lover. It was removed from the original submitted manuscript for pacing reasons. If you've ever heard me say, "I removed the sodomy for pacing reasons," this is the scene to which I was referring. It's an odd feeling for me to read over it now,

Carezze Di Luna releases!

I'm on the road today, traveling to Readercon with friends Judith Berman and Michael Swanwick. If you're going to the con, my schedule is posted here.Today is the release date for the first translation of The Moonlight Mistress. The Italian title is Carezze Di Luna. I love this adaptation of the original cover.Mentre scoppia la Prima Guerra Mondiale, l'avvenente chimica Lucilla Daglish

Readercon 2010 Schedule

This is what I'll be doing while everyone else is at RomCon! I'll be at Readercon 2010 this weekend. For the special events, I'll be participating in the Meet the Pro(se) party and the marathon reading of Theodore Sturgeon stories. Here's my panel and talk schedule:Axes of Identity in Speculative FictionFriday 5 pm, ME/CTAndrea Hairston, Victoria Janssen (L.), N.K. Jemisin, Vandana Singh,

Top 5 Angsty Heroes

I love angsty heroes. You might have guessed that about me at some point. Ahem.Anyway, my top five:1. Any Laura Kinsale hero. I mean, how can you top the boy prostitute who becomes a ninja? Or the vertiginous highwayman? Go on, try. I dare you.2. Any Carol Berg hero, despite them probably being dead from their injuries after she gets through with them. They suffer, yet also manage to kick butt,

How To Begin Writing blah blah blah

I've been rooting around in my backbrain trying to figure out how I begin writing a new story. I mean the writing part, not the coming up with ideas part.These days, since I've been writing novels to deadline, it's easy to tell when I'm going to start a new story. I start the new story after the old story is finished. The subject of my story is dictated by what I've discussed with my editor

City of Independence

Today's a big day here in Philadelphia - it's Independence Day!There are many other reasons I love living in Philadelphia. Here are a couple of them. This mural, representing local independent radio station WXPN, is one. The mural is located in West Philadelphia.And here's another reason - this church was built in 1886. It's also in West Philadelphia. Eventually it was struck by lightning.